Monday, September 7, 2015
Labor Day
On the way back home from a weekend trip, we decided to hit a winery we hadn't previously visited. The town of Strasburg, PA, was along the way, so we decided to stop and do a tasting at the Strasburg Winery, which sits just off of Main Street in the center of town.
It's all a part of a Strasburg Center, which has a Creamery, a pretzel shop, and a couple of stores in its complex. The Creamery was a real treat, the ice creams were just like homemade, but we did wait until after the wines to go there. The wines are provided by Allegro Winery in nearby southern York County. We had been there for a tasting, but had not yet posted a review.
The tasting sheet is a two-sided affair, with a selection of about a dozen dry wines on the front and the sweeter and fruit wines on the back. For $5.00, you can select 7 wines to taste. We stayed on the front side of the sheet.
They offer three Chardonnays. There is a 2013 that they refer to as "a complex blend of French oak barrel and stainless steel aged Chardonnay." Both of us thought it was a very nice wine. It was not overly oaky, but subtle oak effects were still there. The steel aged portion brought out the crispness and flavor of the grape.
The second Chardonnay was the 2014 Steel. It is a fine wine, offers the crisp flavors of the grape, and is very satisfying.
The final Chard was the 2013 Reserve. Billed as "an opulent expression of this variety. Creamy, rich and luxurious," it lived up to its description. We like to compare reserves to the "regular" vintages, and this one did not disappoint. We noted that it did have a mildly heavier oak taste than its "regular" counterpart, but that didn't ruin our appreciation of the offering.
The final white selection was the 2014 Fanfare. "A blend of Chardonnay (53%), Bianca (24%), Sauv Blanc (18%) and Traminette (5%), aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks." The blend was fruit-forward and had a great flavor. The Chardonnay was present, but the Sauvignon Blanc grapes also made their presence known. Both of us enjoyed it immensely and a bottle of Fanfare made its way home with us..
We also tried the four dry red varietals on the front sheet. One of the things we thought interesting about the reds was that there was an "Enjoy now through 20xx" notation in the description. It's the first time we've noticed such a date from a winery, and we thought it a great touch.
Chambourcin is one of our favorite varietals. The 2013 Chambourcin was slightly different than we were used to tasting, but by no means bad. It was aged 10 months in Pennsylvania oak barrels, but that would have had no bearing on what finish we encountered. The ones we are used to are fruit-forward and have almost a sweet finish. This, on the other hand, had a slight peppery finish, which reminded us of a Carmenere from Chile or Argentina.
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, with an enjoy through 2018 date, is "aged 10 months in French oak barrels, this wine is bold and assertive with strong tannins and firm structure." I thought it might be at or near the upper levels of tannins I enjoy, but it was nice and dry and the finish was quite good, and this was the second bottle we bought for home.
The last of the reds available that day were a 2013 Merlot and a 2010 Reserve Merlot. Both had a solid Merlot flavor, the more recent vintage was a little less full-bodied, but still a good choice. The Reserve (both were enjoy now through 2020) was a really remarkable, full-flavored, and well-aged selection, well worth the extra $10.00 price tag.
